Microfluidic devices, particularly filtration devices comprising polymeric membranes, and methods for their manufacture and use

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure describes devices useful for microscale fluid purification, separation, and synthesis. Such devices generally comprise a fluid membrane that separates two or more fluids flowing through plural microchannels operatively associated with the membrane. Often, the membrane is a semipermeable membrane, such as might be used with a filtration device, such as a dialyzer. Devices of the present invention can be combined with other microscale devices to make systems. For example, the devices may be coupled with one or more microchemical microfactories, one or more micromixers, one or more microheaters, etc. Examples of devices made according to the present invention included an oxygenator, a dialyzer, microheat exchangers, etc.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent spplication Ser. No.13/068,037, filed Apr. 29, 2011, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/243,937, filed Oct. 4, 2005 now U.S. Pat. No.7,955,504, which claims the benefit of the earlier filing date of U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/616,877, filed on Oct. 6, 2004. Theentire disclosures of these prior applications are incorporated hereinby reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure concerns microchannel devices having polymermembranes operatively associated therewith, such as purification deviceshaving membranes for filtering fluids, one example being a dialyzer.

BACKGROUND

There are a number of important systems that require fluid purification,particularly liquid purification. Community water systems, for example,obtain water from local sources, such as lakes and rivers, but suchwater sources often contain impurities, and also may contain bacteriaand other microbiological organisms, that can cause disease.Consequently, water from surface sources must be purified before it canbe consumed. Water treatment plants typically clean water by taking itthrough the following processes: (1) aeration; (2) coagulation; (3)sedimentation; (4) filtration; and (5) disinfection. Portable waterpurification systems would benefit the production of potable water inareas where there are few if any water treatment plants.

Fluid oxygenators also provide an important example of fluidpurification. Oxygenator is the main element of the heart-lung machine,which takes over the work of the lungs by adding oxygen to and removingcarbon dioxide from the blood. Inside the oxygenator, blood ischannelled along capillary membranes. The inner lumen of the fibres isstreamed with oxygen or oxygen enriched air. Oxygen diffuses through themicroporous membrane into the blood, while carbon dioxide diffuses outof the blood into the gas stream and is thereby removed. Mostoxygenators also include a heat exchanger to maintain the correcttemperature of the patient's blood. The oxygenated blood is channelledback to the patient.

Another important example of liquid purification is dialysis. Thechemical composition of blood must be controlled to perform itsessential functions of bringing nutrients and oxygen to the cells of thebody, and carrying waste materials away from those cells. Blood containsparticles of many different sizes and types, including cells, proteins,dissolved ions, and organic waste products. Some of these particles,including proteins such as hemoglobin, are essential for the body tofunction properly. Others, such as urea, a waste product from proteinmetabolism, must be removed from the blood. Otherwise, they accumulateand interfere with normal metabolic processes. Still other particles,including many of the simple ions dissolved in the blood, are requiredby the body in certain concentrations that must be tightly regulated,especially when the intake of these chemicals varies.

The kidneys are largely responsible for maintaining the chemistry of theblood by removing harmful particles and regulating the blood's ionicconcentrations, while keeping the essential particles. Kidneys act likedialysis units for blood, making use of different particle sizes andspecially-maintained concentration gradients. Blood passes throughmembrane-lined tubules of the kidney, analogous to the dialysis tubesused in dialysis units. Particles that can pass through the membranepass out of the tubules by diffusion, thus separating the particles thatremain in the blood from those that will be removed from the blood andexcreted.

Kidneys can effectively maintain the body's chemistry as long as atleast ten percent of their functional units are working. Damage to thekidneys that causes the functional capacity to drop below this level maycause fatal illness unless an artificial system performs the work of thekidneys. Without artificial kidney dialysis, toxic wastes build up inthe blood and tissues, and cannot be filtered out by the ailing kidneys.This condition is known as uremia, which means literally “urine in theblood.” Tens of thousands of people currently require kidney dialysis,and the number is growing. Kidney dialysis is intrusive, expensive, andcomplicated. Patients suffer from current treatment protocols due toextensive side effects. Home dialysis is much preferable to the currentpractice of having patients treated at dialysis centers. Improvedtechnology is needed, however, to make home dialysis feasible andaffordable for patients. Conventional dialysis units are configured ashollow fibers. The membranes are manufactured using spinning technologyand generally are about 35μ thick. The membrane is highly porous withthe exception of the inner ˜1μ, which actually performs the separation,retaining blood cells but allowing small molecules to diffusetherethrough. These known dialyzers use membranes typically made ofcellulose acetate, cuprophan or polysulfone. Blood is pumped throughthese fibers, and then back into the patient. The membrane has amolecular weight cut-off that allows most solutes in the blood to passout of the tubing but retains the proteins and cells. Thus, artificialkidney dialysis uses the same chemical principles that are usednaturally in the kidneys to maintain the chemical composition of theblood. Diffusion across semipermeable membranes, polarity, andconcentration gradients are central to the dialysis process for bothnatural and artificial kidneys.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to microscale fluid purification,separation, and synthesis devices. Generally, such devices comprise afluid membrane that separates two or more fluids flowing through pluralmicrochannels operatively associated with the membrane. The fluids canboth be liquids, gases, or a liquid and a gas, such as may be used forgas absorption into a liquid. Often, the membrane is a semipermeablemembrane, such as might be used with a filtration device, such as adialyzer.

Devices of the present invention can be combined with other devices tomake systems. For example, the devices may be coupled with: one or moremicrochemical microfactories, such as nanofactories useful for making,amongst other materials, dendrimers; one or more micromixers, such as amicromixer comprising posts positioned to impinge fluid flowing to themicrochannels or a micromixer comprising regions of hydrophobic surfaceand hydrophilic surface; one or more microheaters; etc.

One example of a device made according to the present invention is anoxygenator. For this embodiment, the fluid is a gas, namely oxygen. Foroxygenating blood, the liquid component is blood.

Microheat exchangers also can be made using the method described herein.

Particular materials had to be developed for use with certainembodiments of the device disclosed herein. For example, a new compositematerial was made comprising nanocrystalline cellulose filler and apolysulfone polymeric material. The composite can comprise any suitableamount of nanocrystalline cellulose filler, with likely amounts rangingfrom greater than zero weight percent nanocrystalline filler to about 10percent filler, and more likely from about 1 percent to about 5 percentnanocrystalline filler. A dialyzer comprising the composite membranealso is disclosed. One embodiment of the dialyzer comprised a dialyzermembrane comprising nanocrystalline cellulose filler and a polysulfonepolymeric material, and a microchannel fluidic device fluidly associatedwith the membrane to provide a blood flow and a dialysate flow adjacentthe membrane.

In order to make the nanocrystalline cellulose-polymer composite, a newmethod was devised for making an organic dispersion of nanocrystallinecellulose. The method comprised first forming an aqueous dispersion ofnanocrystalline cellulose. A mixture was then formed comprising theaqueous dispersion and an organic liquid having a boiling point higherthan water. The water was then selectively removed to form a secondmixture comprising the nanocrystalline cellulose and the organic liquid.Water can be selectively removed by a process similar to distillation,such as by heating the composite mixture to a temperature sufficient toremove the water but not the organic liquid, reducing the pressuresufficient to allow selective water removal, or both. A person ofordinary skill in the art will realize that a number of organic liquidscan be used to practice this method. Solely by way of example, andwithout limitation, the organic liquid may be dimethylformamide,n-methylpyrollidone, tetrahydrofuran, or combinations thereof.

The nanocrystalline cellulose may be prepared from a suitable source,such as a material selected from the group consisting of wood, cotton,Tunicin, Cladophora sp., Valonia, bacteria, chitin, potato starch, andcombinations thereof. The nanocrystalline cellulose also may be surfacemodified to make it more compatible with the polymeric material. Thesurface modified cellulose may be surface modified by a physicalprocess, such as flame or corona discharge oxidation, or by a chemicalprocess using a material selected, without limitation, from the groupconsisting of silyl, trimethyl silyl, epoxy, isocyanate, acetate,maleate, sulfate, phosphate, an ester/sulfate mix, anhydrides, andcombinations thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed incolor. Copies of this patent or patent application publication withcolor drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and paymentof the necessary fee.

FIGS. 1A-1C provide AFM images of cellulose nanocrystals, with the topimage at 400 nm scale, middle image, a measurement showing a typicallength of 191 nm, and the bottom image showing the lowest observedheight of 3.7 nm.

FIGS. 2A and 2B schematically illustrates flow mal-distributions thatoccur on a dialysate side of a conventional fiber-type dialyzer.

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a microscale dialyzer according tothe present invention.

FIGS. 4A-4D are schematic diagrams illustrating one embodiment of amicrochannel array having a filter membrane integrally associatedtherewith.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of one embodiment of a MECS dialyzer according tothe present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the blood flow side and dialysate flow side ofone embodiment of a dialyzer according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing illustrating a multi-layered dialyzer unitcomprising multiple microchannel defining plates and integrallyassociated polymeric membranes.

FIGS. 8A-8D illustrate plural different diffusion channel designconfigurations.

FIGS. 9A-9E provide typical dimensions used to make the platesillustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of an overalldialyzer system according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of test device assembled to testmicrochannel-based fluid filtration.

FIG. 12 is a schematic exploded view of a reactor developed todemonstrate operation of a dialyzer as disclosed herein.

FIG. 13 illustrates different uses for MECS and micrototal analysissystems (μTAS).

FIG. 14A is a schematic, cross sectional diagram illustrating anultrasonic packaging technique before ultrasonically welding with theenergy directors protruding above the PDMS layer.

FIG. 14B is a schematic, cross sectional diagram illustrating the resultof ultrasonic welding with the energy directors melted down, bonding thetop and bottom PC films, compressing the PDMS layer and sealing themicrochannels.

FIG. 15 is a photomicrograph illustrating that with appropriate weldingtime and pressure the energy directors form strong bonds and the PDMScompresses to create a conformal seal against the polycarbonate top andbottom.

FIG. 16 is a diagram of (a) a “nanofractory” producing the generalizedstructure of a dendrimer as (b) a branched architecture and (c) a 3-Dspace-filling model.

FIG. 17 is a schematic perspective diagram of one embodiment of aninterdigital micromixer.

FIGS. 18A-18B are micrographs of (A) 75 μm thick laser-machinedpolyimide (200×) and (B) 15 μm thick micromolded PDMS (500×) membraneswith 5-8 μm pores on 100 μm spacing.

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary analytical micromixerwith a NSOM (Near-field optical microscopy) ear optical fiber probe.

FIGS. 20A and 20B illustrate one approach to fabricating a“nanofractory”: (a) an in-line fractal design for compact production ofdendrimers (geometry based on the work of Pence) and b) a close up ofone of the vertices in the fractal device with integrated micromixer,heater and separator.

FIGS. 21A-21B illustrate an alternative modular approach to nanofractorydevelopment.

FIG. 22 illustrates using mechanical valves for dendron extraction.

FIGS. 23A-23B are photomicrographs illustrating monolithic sorbentmaterials produced in PDMS microchannels with sufficient anchoring toyield a useful device for separations.

FIGS. 24A-24C are SEM images of a polymer made using the embodiments ofthe device described herein.

FIG. 25 is a schematic plan view of a gas-liquid contactor membrane.

FIG. 26 is a schematic drawing illustrating the basic components of aheat exchanging system.

FIG. 27 is a schematic drawing illustrating one embodiment of a methodfor making a contactor membrane by micromolding techniques.

FIGS. 28-30B illustrate the results obtained by micromolding contactors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

I. Polymer-Filler Composites

Adding fillers to polymeric systems, such as polysulfone membranes, canimprove the performance under certain conditions. Smaller fillers seemto have special advantages. As the size of the filler particles becomessmall, the surface area of the filler becomes correspondingly large. Thepolymer molecules next to the surface are always modified by thatsurface. Thus, disruptions in the configuration of the polymer chain canoccur. This can serve to increase the free volume of the polymer,resulting in greater porosity and enhanced flux across the membrane.Also, shrinking during membrane formation can create small cracks andvoids next to the filler particles, which increase permeability and thusoverall flux through the membrane. Perhaps surprisingly, this effectdoes not necessarily result in reduced selectivity. Selectivity probablywill be altered in such a situation, but should still be controllable,especially in the case of hemodialysis, where size is the primaryselection factor.

Prior to the present disclosure, high-aspect-ratio nanoparticlesapparently have not been used as fillers in polysulfone membranes. Thesematerials are long, thin rods that are strong and stiff, and improve themechanical properties of the membrane. The long, thin rods also can beoriented in the membrane. When oriented parallel to the membranesurface, they enhance the stiffness of the membrane. When orientedperpendicular to the membrane surface the nanoparticles decrease thecompressibility of the membrane. Highly compressible membranes typicallyshow poor permeability. The perpendicular orientation also allows forpaths of diffusion for the permeate and decreases the time required forsmall molecules to pass through the membrane. This should increaseoverall flux, which is highly desirable as it reduces the overall sizeof the unit required. One embodiment of a disclosed membrane was madeusing cellulose nanocrystals as a filler for polymeric systems usefulfor making filters, including without limitation, cellulose acetate,ceprophon or polysulfone.

A. Nanocrystalline Cellulose

Cellulose is the largest volume polymer on earth. It is contained invirtually all plants and is produced by certain bacteria and small seaanimals. New uses are still being found for cellulose. One of these isnanocrystalline cellulose (NCC). Cellulose is a semicrystalline polymer,and crystalline portions of the polymer may be liberated by acidhydrolysis. Battista, O. A., 1975. Microcrystal Polymer Science.Microcrystal Polymer Science. McGraw-Hill, New York, N.Y. Revol, J.-F.,J. Giasson, J.-X. Guo, S. J. Hanley, B. Harkness, R. H. Marchessault andD. G. Gray, Kennedy, J. F., G. O. Phillips and P. A. Williams, 1993.Cellulose-Based Chiral Nematic Structures. Ellis Horwood Limited115-122. The size and shape of these crystals varies with their origin.Nanocrystalline cellulose from wood is 3 to 5 nm in width and 20-200 nmlong; from Valonia, a sea plant, 20 nm in width and 100-2000 nm long;from cotton, 3-7 nm in width and 100-300 nm long; from Tunicin, a seaanimal, 10 nm in width and 500-2000 nm long.

NCC production technology extends the current industrial production ofmicrocrystalline cellulose (MCC), which was developed in the 1960's andis used for a variety of purposes, mostly in the pharmaceutical and foodindustries. Almost every aspirin, or other kind of tablet, contains MCCas the drug carrier or as a processing aid. MCC is derived frombleached, dissolving grade wood pulp that has been acid hydrolyzed.Battista, O. A. 1965. Colloidal macromolecular phenomena. AmericanScientist. 53, 151-173. Under moderate conditions of acid hydrolysis,the cellulose in the pulp is degraded, but the rate at which the degreeof polymerization (DP) reduces slows after a certain fiber degradationlevel occurs. The cellulose degradation proceeds slowly after thispoint, which is called the level off degree of polymerization (LODP).Here the cellulose consists of a large size distribution of particles,mostly in the micron range. Under the influence of high shear, theparticles are further comminuted. It is possible to produce a reasonable(20 to 30% or so, depending upon species and processing method) yield ofnanocrystals of cellulose. These are the basic crystal units which existin the crystalline domains of the cellulose polymer. While there is alarge distribution of sizes in the industrial product, the standarddeviation of the LODP is relatively small, by biological standards atleast. For commercial MCC the LODP is about 230. Moorehead measured thecrystallite corresponding to a DP of 297 as 3.7 nm in width, 4.5 nm inthickness, and an average of 150 nm in length (minimum length was 120 nmand maximum 330 nm). Moorehead, F. F. 1950. Text. Res. J. 20, 549.Microcrystalline cellulose is composed primarily of aggregates of theLODP crystallites.

A film prepared from a nanocrystal suspension had a rough densitymeasurement of 1.6±0.1 g/cc, about the same density as the cellulosecrystal. The density of crystalline cellulose calculated from X-raydiffraction data is 1.566 g/cc. Films from NCC are transparent and showbirefringence, suggesting a high degree of crystal orientation in thefilm, at least within domains. The oriented nature of the crystals inthe film is apparent even in an optical microscope image.

The material properties of nanocrystals have not been measured directly,but estimates for the strength and stiffness of the cellulose are about134 GPa for stiffness and 7,500 MPa for strength (a theoreticalcalculation). Marks, R. E., Cell wall mechanics of tracheids. Yale Univ.Press, New Haven, Conn. (1967). Comparisons with other materials areshown in Table 1. The extension to break of NCC is estimated to be only2% [Marks].

TABLE 1 Comparison of mechanical properties for various materialsMaterial Strength, MPa Stiffness, GPa cellulose crystal 7500 134Aluminum 620 73 E-glass 3400 72 Steel 4100 207 Graphite 1700 250 Carbonnanotubes 120,000Most commonly, cellulose nanocrystals are not prepared from wood, butrather from a variety of biological sources: Tunicin, e.g. Halocynthiaroretzi, a sea animal; Cladophora sp. a green algae; Valonia, a seaweed;bacteria; chitin; and even potato starch have been used as raw materialsfor nanocrystal production.

Cellulose nanocrystals have useful reinforcing properties in a varietyof polymer systems as indicated by the following: Favier, V. G. Canova,S. Shrivastava and J. Cavaille, Mechanical percolation in cellulosewhisker nanocomposites, Polymer Engineering and Science, 37, 1732-1739(1997); Chazeau, L. J. Y. Cavaille and P. Terech, Mechanical behaviourabove Tg of a plasticised PVC reinforced with cellulose whiskers; a SANSstructural study. Polymer, 40, 5333-5344 (1999); Cellulose nanocrystalshave been investigated as fillers in siloxanes, such as by Grunert, M.and W. Winter, Progress in the development of cellulose reinforcednanocomposites, Polymeric materials, science and engineering (2000).Poly(caprolactone), Morin, A. and A. Dufresne, Nanocomposites of chitinwhiskers from Riftia tubes and poly(caprolactone), Macromolecules, 35,2190-2199 (2002); glycerol-plasticized starch, Angles, M. N. and A.Dufresne (2001). Plasticized starch/tunicin whiskers nanocompositematerials. 2. Mechanical behavior, Macromolecules. 34, 2921-2931;styrene-butyl acrylate latex, Paillet, M. and A. Dufresne (2001). Chitinwhisker reinforced thermoplastic nanocomposites, Macromolecules, 34,6527-6530; Grunnert, M. and W. Winter, Cellulose nanocrystal reinforcedcellulose acetate butyrate nanocomposites, Abstracts of papers, 223^(rd)National ACS meeting, Polymeric materials, science and engineering. p.240 (2002); epoxies, Ruiz, M., J. Cavaille, A. Dufresne, J. Gerard andC. Graillat, Processing and characterization of new thermosetnanocomposites based on cellulose whiskers, Composite Interfaces, 7,117-131(2000); and thermoplastic starch, Orts, W. J., S. H. Imam, J.Shey, G. M. Glenn, M. K. Inglesby, M. E. Guttman and A. Nguyen, Effectof fiber source on cellulose reinforced polymer nanocomposites, AnnualTechnical Conference—Society of Plastics Engineers, 62^(nd), 2427-2431(2004).

At very low nanocrystal loadings the composite reaches a percolationthreshold. This is the filler level at which the filler particles beginto contact each other and form a three-dimensional network. The modulusbuilds very rapidly from this point to extremely high values. Thispercolation effect has been well-studied in regards to electricalconductivity in filled polymer systems. Above the percolation threshold,the shear modulus has been observed to increase by more than threeorders of magnitude. This required nanocrystal loadings of only 6%.Favier, V., G. Canova, S. Shrivastava and J. Cavaille. 1997. Mechanicalpercolation in cellulose whisker nanocomposites. Polymer Engineering andScience. 37, 1732-1739.

Cellulose nanocrystals have not been used extensively in the commonthermoplastics, e.g. polyethylene and polypropylene, as they are moreexpensive than wood flour and not readily available, and they arethermally sensitive at the temperatures commonly used to extrudethermoplastics. Such composites also face the same incompatibilityproblem inherent in wood-plastic composites because the cellulose tendsto agglomerate and the resulting composite is more susceptible tomoisture than the neat plastic. This may be addressed, however, bysurface modifying the polymeric material.

The interest in nanocrystalline cellulose stems not only from thesuperior properties of this material, but also from the very high aspectratios (length divided by width) available (in some cases>500).High-aspect-ratio fillers provide improved polymer-filler compositeproperties. In addition, they offer the possibility of directionality inthe mechanical properties of the composite by aligning the nanocrystalsin the desired direction. Another advantage of NCC is its relativeuniformity in terms of size and shape. Carbon nanotubes are typicallyproduced in a huge array of diameters and lengths.

B. Making NCC/Organic Liquid Dispersions using a Solvent ExchangeProcess

New membranes need to be developed for use in filtration devices, suchas composite polymer-fiber materials. The incorporation of NCC intopolymers without aggregation has been problematic. De Souza Lima, M. M.and R. Borsali, Rodlike cellulose microcrystals: structure, properties,and applications, Macromolecular Rapid Communications. 25, 771-787(2004). For example, the most advanced research group in the cellulosenanocrystal area, Dr. DuFresne's group at EFPG-INPG in St. MartinD'Heres Cedex, France, used freeze drying then ultrasonication tosuspend NCCs (referred to as cellulose whiskers) in dimethylformamide(DMF).

The freeze drying step used in known processes can be eliminated byembodiments of a solvent exchange process disclosed herein. Solventexchange works well as a process for transferring NCC from an aqueoussuspension to an organic liquid suspension. The organic liquidsuspension then can be used for subsequent processes utilizing apolymeric material, such as a polysulfone, or potentially a polymericmaterial precursor. Subsequent coagulation provides a method formembrane formation. This is a potentially enabling concept for a varietyof polymer systems.

One embodiment of the method comprises forming an aqueous dispersion ofnanocrystalline cellulose. The nanocrystalline cellulose can be madefrom a source of cellulose by treating the cellulose with an acid, andcomminuting the resulting cellulosic material. A mixture is then formedcomprising the aqueous dispersion and an organic liquid. A suitableorganic liquid for this step can be selected by considering organicliquids in which the NCC can be dispersed, the boiling point of theliquid (higher than water but sufficiently low to allow efficientremoval) and other factors that would be understood by a person ofordinary skill in the art, such as cost, availability, etc. By way ofexample only, organic liquids currently deemed useful includedimethylformamide, n-methylpyrollidone, and combinations thereof Thewater is then removed, without freeze drying, to form a second mixturecomprising the nanocrystalline cellulose and the organic liquid. Thewater is selectively removed by processes similar to distillation, suchas be modifying the pressure and/or temperature to allow selectiveremoval of the aqueous phase.

The second mixture is added to a polymeric material or polymericmaterial precursor to form a composite mixture. The second mixture isthen used as desired. Composite materials have been formed using thistechnique. For example, an organic-liquid dispersion of NCC has beenadded to polysulfone. The resulting polymeric composite material wasthen formed into films. Filtration membranes can be made by formingapertures in the composite material. One method for forming suchapertures comprises using a sacrificial liquid that can be removed fromthe composite film subsequent to its formation, such as by heating,leaving behind pores to form a membrane.

C. Surface Modification

Chemical compatibility is an important issue in composite materials. NCChas the advantage of being easily modified by chemical treatments.Several literature references describe the surface modification ofcellulose nanocrystals. See, for example, Ladouce, (2000), who teachesusing a variety of agents that react with the cellulose hydroxyl group,primarily silylation, epoxy, and isocyanate compounds; and Winter, whodescribes acetate, maleate, sulfate, and trimethyl silyl modifications(2001). Successful MCC surface modification without significantdegradation of the crystalline structure has been demonstrated bygrafting phosphate, an ester (pyromellitic), and an ester/sulfate mix[Kotelnikova, (1993)]. The use of anhydrides as surface modifying agentsalso is known [Trejo-O'Reilly, (1997)].

D. Thermal Limits

NCC begins to oxidize in air around 130° C. This limits its usefulnessand prohibits typical plastic processing in extruders, injectionmolders, etc. In addition, dispersing dry NCC in molten plastic requiresintense shear that would most likely be expensive and degrading to thefinal composite properties. However, this thermal sensitivity should notbe a serious impediment to membrane applications, since they usually usecoagulation from solvent as the processing method. Biomedicalapplications also usually incorporate low temperature processes.

E. Biocompatibility

Cellulose and cellulose derivatives have a long history in thebiomedical field. Cellulose acetate is an important polymer for use indialysis membranes (although in recent years it has been losing marketshare to PSf). MCC is routinely used in pharmaceuticals and foods (seeabove). The reaction of the body to cellulose depends upon the type ofcellulose, but generally is in the range of none to a light bodyreaction. The use of bacterial cellulose has been growing rapidly inrecent years. Bacterial cellulose, obtained from Acetobacter xylinium,has shown surprising results as a wound dressing and a venture tocommercialize its use has begun. Bacterial cellulose is also showingpromise as a material for microsurgery.

Thus, while NCC has not yet been tested for biocompatibility, priorexperience with cellulose in biomedical applications indicates that itwill be biocompatible.

II. Dialysis Unit

A disclosed embodiment of a dialysis unit according to the presentinvention is based on a modified-microchannel architecture (MMA). Thisunit advances a new paradigm in haemotreatment. The design is aMECS-based, mass transfer/heat transfer/chemical reactor device forhaemodialysis, haemofiltration and haemoreaction. This unit takesadvantage of convective and diffusional motion of fluids (blood,dialysate, etc.), and dramatically improves (reduces the time, lessensthe blood cell damage, etc.) device operation.

A. Technical Rationale

Mal-distribution of dialysate flow occurs due to uneven and inconsistentspacing between individual fibers in a conventional dialyzer. Areas withstagnant flow, as well as areas with developed shunt flow, dramaticallyreduce the efficiency of the mass transfer on the dialysate side. FIG. 2schematically illustrates flow mal-distributions that occur on adialysate side of a conventional fiber-type dialyzer 20. The spacingbetween individual fibers 22 is generally small, thus diffusion is animportant mechanism of mass transfer in the inter-fiber space 24. Thecharacteristic diffusion time from a membrane surface into the bulk ofdialysate can be estimated as λ_(D)=λ²/D [s], where λ [m] is thecharacteristic diffusion length (distance between the wall of the fiberand the center of the bulk flow) and D [m²/s] is the diffusioncoefficient of the diffusing molecule.

This characteristic diffusion time has to be compared with all othercharacteristic times (τ_(d)—the mean residence time of dialysate,τ_(b)—the mean residence time of blood flow through fibers, andτ_(HD)—the overall duration of haemodialysis) pertinent to the operationof the conventional dialysis unit. An efficient dialyzer design requiresthat τ_(D)<<τ_(d);τ_(b);τ_(HD).

If the characteristic inter-fiber space 24 in regions with developedshunt flow is of the order of millimeters (10⁻³ m) than thecharacteristic diffusion time τ_(D) is approximately 100 s. Previousresearch demonstrates that microscale devices radically reduce thecharacteristic time required for mass transfer in separation devices.Unlike the conventional dialysis unit, the microtechnology-based designof the disclosed embodiments maintain microscale dimensions evenly onboth sides of the membrane. By maintaining the characteristicinter-fiber space substantially uniformly at 100 μm the characteristictime τ_(D) is about 1 s.

To optimize the dialysate flow distribution between the hollow fibers ina conventional dialyzer, one has to develop and implement additional‘static-mixer-like’ implants that produce even and stable dialysateflow. This could potentially enhance the performance of the dialyzer.Developments in this direction are already evident in the design of thehollow fiber-type dialyzers among leading membrane manufacturers.However, MMA and microlamination technology allow for a much better andeasier realization of an accurately engineered flow on both sides of thehaemodialysis membrane. Moreover, the disclosed embodiments addressmajor problems (blood cell damage, overall size of the device,haemotreatment duration, etc.) arising from current practices inhaemodialysis and other haemotreatments.

B. Microscale Dialyzer Embodiment

One embodiment of a microscale dialyzer 30 is illustrated in FIG. 3.FIG. 3 illustrates that the disclosed unit has fluid collection units 32and 34 and at least one diffusion unit 36. The entire unit can be madeusing microlamination techniques. The diffusion unit 36 of the devicecan be made as a microchannel array. A schematic diagram illustrating amicrochannel array 40 having a filter membrane integrally associatedtherewith is illustrated in FIG. 4. The illustrated embodiment 40includes an array of microchannels 42 for blood flow and dialysate flow.These fluids are separated by a membrane 44, particularly asemi-permeable membrane, such as the NCC-polymeric composite membranedescribed above. A particular embodiment includes ananocrystalline-cellulose/polysulfone membrane. The cross section of themicrochannels 42 can be varied, as indicated in FIG. 4 to providedesired fluid flow characteristics and other beneficial properties.

One embodiment of a MECS dialyzer design 50 is illustrated in FIG. 5.The size of the device is only 2-3 times the size of a dime (indicatedby the coin placed adjacent the device in FIG. 6 of the priorityprovisional application incorporated herein be reference) for sizecomparison.

The combination of biocompatibility, stiffness and nanoscale fillerdimensions afforded by cellulose nanocrystal-filled PSf allow theincorporation of microscale features (1-100 μm) in the MECS devices.

FIG. 5 illustrates the use of mixing posts 52 prior to the microchannels54. The posts 52 provide a method for dispersing blood flow evenlythroughout available microchannels 54 through which the blood will flow.These posts 52 can be physical portions of the device 50. For example,in the illustrated embodiment the posts 52 are triangularly shaped, andextend upwardly from a surface to impinge a fluid flowing over and aboutthe posts. These posts 52 can have any geometric shape in addition tothe triangular posts illustrated in cross section, including withoutlimitation, cylindrical, rectangular, square, polygonal, and anycombination of such shaped posts. The spacing and number of postsprovided is determined by the desired end result, i.e. distribution ofblood flow substantially equally among the available microchannels.

Other methods also can be used to disperse blood flow evenly within themicrochannels. For example, the surface in contact with the fluid flow,such as blood flow, can be modified to have regions that are compatiblewith the flowing fluid and regions that are not compatible with theflowing fluid. Again by way of example, regions of the dialyzer surfacecan be made either hydrophobic or hydrophilic by surface modification.For dialysis, regions of the surface that are hydrophobic tend to repelthe blood flow and thereby allow blood dispersion into themicrochannels, much in the same manner as the mixing posts illustratedin the embodiment of FIG. 5.

The microchannels in the illustrated embodiment have a blood flow sideand a dialysate flow side. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a microchanneldialyzer 60, the blood flow side, side 62, and the dialysate flow side,side 64.

Illustrated embodiments of the present dialyzer unit typically arefabricated as a multilayered unit. These features are illustratedschematically in FIG. 7. The embodiment 70 depicted by FIG. 7 includes atop support plate 72 and a bottom support plate 74. Between the twosupport plates 72 and 74 are plural microchannel-defining plates. Threetypes of microchannel-defining plates are used to make the layereddesign illustrated in FIG. 7: a top, one-sided plate 76; plural middle,two-sided plates 78; and a bottom, one-sided plate 80. Positionedbetween the plural plates 76-80 are filter membranes 82, such as thenanocrystalline cellulose/polysulfone composite filter membranedescribed herein.

Diffusion channels can have a variety of configurations. Differentdiffusion units may have different microchannel configurations.Alternatively, a single diffusion unit of a disclosed dialyzerembodiment can have plural different microchannel configurations. Pluraldifferent channel configurations 82, 84 and 86 are schematicallyillustrated in device 83 of FIG. 8.

The dimensions of plural plates used to assemble a dialyzer unit alsocan vary to provide different functional results. Typical dimensions inmicrons used to make the plates illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 areprovided by plates 92-100 of FIG. 9. A person of ordinary skill in theart will appreciate that these dimensions can be varied and stillprovide an operating dialyzer unit.

A schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment 100 of an overalldialyzer system is provided as FIG. 10. A device 102 for flowing bloodto the microchannel-based dialysis unit, and a device 104 for flowingfluid to the dialysate side, are provided. In the illustratedembodiment, syringe pumps 102, 104 are fluidly coupled to the inletsides 108, 110 of the microchannel-based dialysis unit 106. Optionalpressure controllers 112, 114 can be placed in-line between one or moreof the syringe pumps 102, 104 and the microchannel-based dialysis unit106. Moreover, where necessary or desired, fluid flow controllers 116,118 can be used to control fluid flow to one or more of the componentsof the system.

The microchannel-based dialysis unit 106 receives the fluids, which areseparated into a blood flow side and a dialysate side. Different degreesof separation can occur in the disclosed unit. For example, a firstseparation may involve blood separation, whereby primarily blood cellsare separated from the blood side leaving a remaining fluid having bothbiologically necessary components, such as proteins, as well as wasteproducts, such as urea. This remaining fluid then can be subjected toadditional dialysis to remove materials, such as urea, that are normallyremoved during dialysis. The blood cell stream and the remainingpurified fluid stream then can be recombined for return to the patient.

As would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art,additional devices, such as analytical or computational devices, can beused in combination with the dialysis embodiment described herein. Forexample, one or more computers 120 can be used to acquire data, monitorsystem operation, fluid composition, etc. The embodiment 100 illustratedin FIG. 10 also includes an analytical separation device, such as a highpressure liquid chromatography device 122.

A test device 1100 has been assembled to test microchannel-based fluidfiltration. A cross sectional schematic view of such a test device 1100is provided as FIG. 11. This test unit 1100 allows an operator to testdifferent membranes for fluid separation. The test unit 1100 comprises ablood inlet 1102 and outlet 1104 and a dialysate inlet 1106 and outlet1108. Fluid flow occurs through a quartz window 1110, which allows theoperator and/or a camera 1112 to monitor fluid flow through the device1100. Fluid flow is directed adjacent the two major planar surfaces1116, 1118 of a separation membrane 1114, such as thenanocrystilline-cellulose/polysulfone composite membrane describedherein.

A reactor has been developed to demonstrate operation of a dialyzer asdisclosed herein. A schematic exploded view of one embodiment of areactor 1200 is provided as FIG. 12. The reactor 1200 comprises a holderfor the separation device, which comprises plural microchannel plateswith a semipermeable membrane between them. The reactor allowsinterfacing the test separation device to other system components, suchas pumps, tubing, reservoirs, etc. The illustrated reactor 1200 includestwo end plates 1202, 1204. Gaskets 1206 and 1208 are positioned adjacentend plates 1202, 1204 for fluidly sealing the reactor 1200. Quartzwindows 1210, 1212 are provided through which reactor operation can bemonitored. Spacers, such as Teflon spacers 1214 and 1216, and a flowseparator 1218 are provided to effectively space the reactor components.A photograph of a disassembled working embodiment of the reactor,adjacent a coin for size comparison, was provided as FIG. 14 in thepriority provisional application.

Reactor 1200 is fluidly coupled to two fluid mixtures. These fluidmixtures are flowed through the reactor 1200 using a pump. Fluid flowingthrough the reactor 1200 flowed adjacent a membrane, therebyestablishing that the combination of microfluidic channels and amembrane function usefully as a fluid separation/purification device.

III. Making Disclosed MECS Filtration Devices

A. Microlamination Method—General Discussion

Devices disclosed herein may be produced by a fabrication approach knownas microlamination. Microlamination methods are described in severalpatents and pending applications commonly assigned to Oregon StateUniversity, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,793,831, 6,672,502, and U.S.patent applications Nos. 60/514,237, entitled High VolumeMicrolamination Production Of Mecs Devices, and 60/554,901, entitledMicrochemical Microfactories, all of which are incorporated herein byreference.

Microlamination consists of patterning and bonding thin layers ofmaterial, called laminae, to generate a monolithic device with embeddedfeatures. Microlamination involves at least three levels of productiontechnology: 1) lamina patterning, 2) laminae registration, and 3)laminae bonding. Thus, the method of the present invention for makingdevices comprises providing plural laminae, registering the laminae, andbonding the laminae. The method also may include dissociating components(i.e., substructures from structures) to make the device. Componentdissociation can be performed prior to, subsequent to, or simultaneouslywith bonding the laminae.

In one aspect of the invention, laminae are formed from a variety ofmaterials, particularly metals, alloys, including intermetallic metalsand alloys, polymeric materials, including solely by way of example andwithout limitation, PDMS, polysulfones, polyimides, etc., ceramics, andcombinations of such materials. The proper selection of a material for aparticular application will be determined by other factors, such as thephysical properties of the metal or metal alloy and cost. Examples ofmetals and alloys particularly useful for metal microlamination includestainless steel, carbon steel, phosphor bronze, copper, graphite, andaluminum.

Laminae useful for the microlamination method of the present inventioncan have a variety of sizes. Generally, the laminae have thicknesses offrom about 1 mil to about 32 mils thick, preferably from about 2 mils toabout 10 mils thick, and even more preferably from about 3 to about 4mils thick (1 mil is 1 one-thousandth of an inch). Individual laminawithin a stack also can have different thicknesses.

B. Laminae 1. Lamina Patterns

Lamina patterning may comprise machining or etching a pattern in thelamina. The pattern produced depends on the device being made. Withoutlimitation, techniques for machining or etching include laser-beam,electron-beam, ion-beam, electrochemical, electrodischarge, chemical andmechanical material deposition or removal can be used. The lamina can bepatterned by both lithographic and non-lithographic processes.Lithographic processes include micromolding and electroplating methods,such as LIGA, and other net-shape fabrication techniques. Someadditional examples of lithographic techniques include chemicalmicromachining (i.e., wet etching), photochemical machining,through-mask electrochemical micromachining (EMM), plasma etching, aswell as deposition techniques, such as chemical vaporization deposition,sputtering, evaporation, and electroplating. Non-lithographic techniquesinclude electrodischarge machining (EDM), mechanical micromachining andlaser micromachining (i.e., laser photoablation). Photochemical andelectrochemical micromachining likely are preferred for mass-producingdevices.

A currently preferred method for patterning lamina for prototypingdevices is laser micromachining, such as laser numerically controlledmicromachining. Laser micromachining has been accomplished with pulsedor continuous laser action in working embodiments. Machining systemsbased on Nd:YAG and excimer lasers are typically pulsed, while CO₂ lasersystems are continuous. Nd:YAG systems typically were done with anElectro Scientific Industries model 4420. This micromachining systemused two degrees of freedom by moving the focused laser flux across apart in a digitally controlled X-Y motion. The laser was pulsed in therange of from about 1 kHz to about 3 kHz. This provides a continuous cutif the writing speed allows pulses to overlap. The cutting action iseither thermally or chemically ablative, depending on the material beingmachined and the wavelength used (either the fundamental at 1064 nm, thesecond harmonic at 532 nm, the third harmonic at 355 nm or the fourthharmonic at 266 nm). The drive mechanism for the Nd:YAG laser was adigitally controlled servo actuator that provides a resolution ofapproximately 2 μm. The width of the through cut, however, depends onthe diameter of the focused beam.

Laminae also have been machined with CO₂ laser systems. Most of thecommercial CO₂ lasers semi-ablate or liquefy the material being cut. Ahigh-velocity gas jet often is used to help remove debris. As with theNd:YAG systems, the laser (or workpiece) is translated in the X-Ydirections to obtain a desired pattern in the material.

An Nd:YAG pulse laser has been used to cut through, for example,90-μm-thick steel shims. The line widths for these cuts wereapproximately 35 μm wide, although with steel, some tapering wasobserved. For the 90-μm-thick sample, three passes were made using 1 kHzpulse rate, an average laser power of 740 mW, and a distance betweenpulses of 2 μm. Also, the cuts were made at 355 nm. Some debris andridging was observed along the edge of the cut on the front side. Thismaterial was easily removed from the surface during lamina preparation,such as by surface polishing.

Laminae also have been patterned using a CO₂ laser. For example, aserpentine flexural spring used in a miniature Stirling cooler has beenprepared using a CO₂ laser. The CO₂ through-cuts were approximately 200μm wide and also exhibited a slight taper. The width of the CO₂ lasercut was the minimum achievable with the system used. The part wascleaned in a lamina preparation step using surface polishing to removedebris.

Pulsed Nd:YAG lasers also are capable of micromachining laminae madefrom polymeric materials, such as laminae made from polyimides. PulsedNd:YAG lasers are capable of micromachining these materials with highresolution and no recast debris. Ultraviolet wavelengths appear best forthis type of work where chemical ablation apparently is the mechanisminvolved in removing material. Clean, sharp-edged holes in the 25-50 μmdiameter range have been produced.

2. Lamina Preparation

In another aspect of the invention, lamina patterning includes laminapreparation. The laminae can be prepared by a variety of techniques. Forexample, surface polishing of a lamina following pattern formation maybe beneficial. Moreover, acid etching can be used to remove any oxidesfrom a metal or alloy lamina. In one embodiment of the invention, laminapreparation includes applying an oxide-free coating to some or all ofthe laminae. An example of this would be electroplating gold onto thelamina to prevent oxidation at ambient conditions.

In another embodiment of the invention, lamina preparation includesfilling the spaces between the structures and substructures with amaterial, referred to herein for convenience as a fixative, that holdsthe structure and substructure together before bonding the laminae andafter the fixture bridges are eliminated. For instance, investmentcasting wax can be used as the fixative to hold together the structureand substructure. The fixture bridges are then eliminated, and thesubstructure is maintained in contact with the structure by thefixative. The fixative is eliminated during or after bonding the laminaetogether, thus dissociating the substructure from the structure.

3. Laminae Registration

Laminae registration comprises (1) stacking the laminae so that each ofthe plural lamina in a stack used to make a device is in its properlocation within the stack, and (2) placing adjacent laminae with respectto each other so that they are properly aligned as determined by thedesign of the device. It should be recognized that a variety of methodscan be used to properly align laminae, including manually and visuallyaligning laminae.

The precision to which laminae can be positioned with respect to oneanother may determine whether a final device will function. Thecomplexity may range from structures such as microchannel arrays, whichare tolerant to a certain degree of misalignment, to more sophisticateddevices requiring highly precise alignment. For example, a small scaledevice may need a rotating sub-component requiring miniature journalbearings axially positioned to within a few microns of each other.Several alignment methods can be used to achieve the desired precision.Registration can be accomplished, for example, using an alignment jigthat accepts the stack of laminae and aligns each using some embeddedfeature, e.g., corners and edges, which work best if such features arecommon to all laminae. Another approach incorporates alignment features,such as holes, into each lamina at the same time other features arebeing machined. Alignment jigs are then used that incorporate pins thatpass through the alignment holes. The edge alignment approach canregister laminae to within 10 microns, assuming the laminae edges areaccurate to this precision. With alignment pins and a highly accuratelamina machining technique, micron-level positioning is feasible.

Thermally assisted lamina registration also can be used as desired.Additional detail concerning thermally assisted lamina registration isprovided by copending application No. 60/514,237, which is incorporatedherein by reference.

Registration of laminae in a working embodiments typically wasaccomplished using an alignment jig or by thermal registration. If analignment jig is used, it must tolerate the bonding step. Thus, intypical microlamination setups, the alignment jig preferably wasincorporated into the design of the structure that compressed the stackfor bonding. A person of ordinary skill in the art also will recognizethat the registration process can be automated.

C. Laminae Bonding

Laminae bonding comprises bonding the plural laminae one to another toproduce a monolithic device (also referred to as a laminate). Laminaebonding can be accomplished by a number of methods including, withoutlimitation, diffusion soldering/bonding, thermal brazing, adhesivebonding, thermal adhesive bonding, curative adhesive bonding,electrostatic bonding, resistance welding, microprojection welding, andcombinations thereof.

1. Microprojection Welding

Laminae can be bonded to one another at specific sites on the laminae bythe novel process of microprojection welding. Microprojection weldingcomprises patterning lamina having at least one projection, and moretypically plural projections, that extends from at least one surface,generally a major planar surface, of the lamina. Selective bonding isaccomplished by placing laminae between electrodes and passing a currentthrough the electrodes. The laminae are bonded together selectively atthe site or sites of the projection(s). A person of ordinary skill inthe art will recognize that a variety of materials suitable for weldingcan be used to produce the projections, including mild steel, carbonsteel, low carbon steel, weldable stainless steel, gold, copper, andmixtures thereof. The welding material (i.e., projections) preferably ismade of the same material as the laminae being bonded.

Microprojections suitable for microprojection welding can be produced byboth additive and subtractive processes. In one embodiment of theinvention, a subtractive process was used to pattern laminae. Thesubtractive process comprises etching away material from a lamina toproduce the microprojections. A person of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that a variety of etching processes can be used, includingphotochemical and electrochemical etching.

In another embodiment of the invention, microprojections can be producedon laminae by an additive process. This additive process comprisesbuilding up a lamina to form the microprojections or building up theprojections on a lamina prior to lamina patterning. One method ofpatterning the microprojections would involve either etching ordepositing projections through a lithographic mask prior to laminaproduction. Lamina patterning should then be conducted with reference tothe placement of these projections. For example, if the flapper valvepivot is too close to ring projections, then “flash material” mayinterfere with the operation of the flapper valve. “Flash material” isextraneous projection weld material or material produced by the weldingoperation.

Microprojections can have several geometries. For example, individualisolated protrusions can be used. Moreover, continuous lines, rings orany other geometries suitable for the welding requirements of aparticular device, can be used to practice microprojection welding oflaminae.

In one aspect of the invention, plate electrodes were used to delivercurrent sufficient to weld the laminae to one another. The laminae thatare to be welded together are placed between and in contact with theplate electrodes. Optionally, pressure can be applied to place thelaminae in contact with each other or the plate electrodes.

Typical projections of working embodiment had heights of from about 100μm to about 200 μm, with diameters of about 125 μm or less. If theprojections are shorter than 100 μm, electrical shorts may result. Theweld nuggets produced by the welding operation had diameters of about1.5-1.7 mm. It can be important to orient substructures on individuallamina so that weld nuggets patterned by the welding process do notoverlap, and hence potentially interfere with the operation of, thesubstructures.

2. Diffusion Soldering

Diffusion soldering is a known method for filing joints. See, forexample, D. M. Jacobson and G. Humpston, Diffusion Soldering, Soldering& Surface Mount Technology, No. 10, pp. 27-32 (1992), which isincorporated herein by reference. However, diffusion soldering has notbeen adapted for use in microlamination processes for bonding laminaeone to another for MECS devices.

Diffusion soldering of laminae can be practiced using a number ofmaterial combinations, including both base metals and alloys and onsurfaces that have been metalized. Two of the more versatilecombinations are tin-silver and tin-indium. These twodiffusion-soldering systems provide a low-temperature bonding processthat results in intermetallic strong joints at the material interface.

Another attractive feature is that the bond produced by diffusionsoldering can take considerably higher reheat temperatures than mostconventional bonding methods. Because of these characteristics,diffusion soldering is well suited for producing microlaminated devicesthat must operate at moderate temperatures (i.e., up to approximately500° C.).

The tin-silver system can work on any surface able to withstand moderatetemperatures and capable of receiving a plating layer of the requisitemetal. For many devices, steel and stainless steel offer a number ofattractive characteristics for fatigue strength, magnetic properties,relatively low thermal conductivity (for stainless steel), and corrosionresistance.

The diffusion soldering method first comprises preparing and plating thesurface of each lamina. A typical plating process comprises plating witha low temperature material and a high temperature material. These twomaterials typically form an intermetallic material by diffusionsoldering.

More specifically, diffusion soldering may involve placing a firststrike layer, such as a thin strike layer of nickel (approximately 0.5μm) on a bare surface that will receive the nickel, such as a metal oralloy surface. This layer promotes adhesion of the other platablemetals. Strike layers may not be necessary. Then, a second, generallythicker layer, such as a silver layer 1 μm-10 μm, more typically 2-5 μmthick, is plated over the first layer. Copper may be preferred as abonding agent between the strike layer or the lamina and the hightemperature soldering material because of its ability to readily bond toboth nickel and silver. Copper can create a copper-silver intermetallicthat is weaker than the surrounding material, and hence be the site ofmaterial failure in the device. Finally, a third low-temperaturematerial layer, typically tin, is plated 1 μm-10 μm, preferably 2-5 μmthick over the second layer.

Working embodiments used a stack having alternating surfaces plated witheither high-temperature or high-temperature and low-temperaturematerial, such as silver or silver and tin. The two outside laminaetypically have high-temperature material, such as silver, so that thefinal, bonded stack did not adhere to the alignment jig. If possible,non-bonded internal structures and cavities preferably have the silverlayer on their surface. This is to prevent low-temperature material fromflowing into features.

The bonding takes place by momentarily raising the stack temperatureabove the melting point of the low-temperature material (e.g., tin @232° C.) under a compression pressure sufficient to achieve the bond. Athigher pressures, lower temperatures likely will be required to achieveadequate bonding. Working embodiments have used compression pressures ofapproximately 2 MPa to about 5 MPa. A compression pressure below about 2MPa may not provide sufficient pressure to achieve adequate bonding. Airand other oxidizing atmospheres preferably are excluded at this point toavoid the creation of tin oxides and voids. However, with the surfaceproperly prepared, the bonding process is rapid and complete. Oneimportant aspect is to maintain sufficiently low temperatures andpressures so that the lower temperature material does not flow into thefeatures, causing restriction of flow therethrough or therein.

Bond strength and re-heat temperatures can benefit by heating the stackfor a longer period of time at the bonding temperature, such as at leastup to one hour. This allows tin to further diffuse into the silver andform stronger intermetallic compounds within the joint itself. Someevidence exists for ultimately forming a silver bond interspersed withintermetallic tin/silver particles yielding a high strength, moderatetemperature joint. Indium can be used in place of tin to yield an evenlower temperature (melting point of indium is 157° C.) bonding process.

3. Miscellaneous Bonding Methods

Polyimide sheet adhesives can be used to bond laminae together.Polyimide is a commercially available, high-strength, high-temperaturepolymer. For example, Dupont manufactures a polyimide sheet adhesive,Kapton KJ. Kapton KJ retains adhesive properties and can bond surfacestogether when heated and compressed. Polyimide sheets form moderatestrength bonds that also provide good sealing capability.

D. Component Dissociation by Eliminating Fixture Bridges

Component dissociation is accomplished by eliminating fixture bridges.It will be recognized that there are a variety of ways to eliminatefixture bridges, including vaporizing the fixture bridge by heating itto a sufficient temperature, chemically eliminating, such as bydissolving, the fixture bridge, and laser ablation of the fixturebridge. Combinations of these methods also can be used.

One method for vaporizing the fixture bridges comprises capacitivedischarge dissociation. Capacitive discharge dissociation comprisesapplying a current through the fixture bridge sufficient to vaporize thefixture bridge. There are a variety of ways to apply current through afixture bridge. Working embodiments of the method have placed a firstelectrode in contact with the structure and a second electrode incontact with the substructure to be dissociated. Current is passedbetween the electrodes.

In one embodiment of the invention, a DC power source was used to chargea capacitor. The capacitor was discharged to pass current through theelectrodes. The temperature, the amount of current, and the powernecessary to eliminate the fixture bridge often varies with theparticular properties of the fixture bridge, including the material thefixture bridge is made of, its cross-sectional area, and its length.

In another embodiment of the invention, fixture bridges are eliminatedby thermochemical dissociation. Thermochemical dissociation has thepotential advantage of reducing debris that may form during fixturebridge elimination. Thermochemical dissociation comprises selectivelyheating the fixture bridges, in combination with chemical elimination.Selective heating of the bridge can be accomplished by applying currentto the fixture bridge, heating with a laser and/or focusing a laser onthe bridge. One way to apply current through the fixture bridgecomprises placing electrodes at or near the ends of the fixture bridgeand passing a current between the electrodes. In another embodiment ofthe invention, heating elements, or some other method for deliveringthermal energy, can be used to selectively heat the fixture bridges.

Chemical elimination also comprises applying a sufficient amount of achemical to eliminate the fixture bridges. The fixture bridges alsooptionally can be selectively heated to a temperature sufficient to helpchemically eliminate them either prior to, subsequent to, orsimultaneously with application of the chemical. There are a variety ofchemicals that can be used to eliminate the fixture bridges, such asacids, particularly mineral acids, bases, oxidizing agents, and mixturesthereof. The concentration, pH, and temperature sufficient toselectively chemically eliminate the fixture bridges varies with theparticular properties of the fixture bridge, including the material thefixture bridge is made of, the cross-sectional area, and the length.Preferably, an acid having a pH of less than about 3 and at atemperature above freezing temperature is applied to the lamina.Preferably, the fixture bridges are heated to temperatures from about200° C. to about 300° C. If the laminae are made of a copper alloy,cupric chloride or ferric chloride can be used to chemically eliminatethe bridge. If the laminae are made of steel, a mixture, such as a 1:1volume mixture of HCl:HNO₃, can be used to eliminate the fixture bridge.

In another embodiment of the invention, fixture bridges are eliminatedby laser ablation. In this embodiment, line-of-sight access to thefixture bridges from the exterior of the device is desired. The laserbeam should be able to be focused onto the fixture bridge, which mayrequire line-of sight access. UV lasers are particularly useful as theyablate metals as well as polymers and ceramics with little heat affectand very sharply distinguished features. Laser ablation allows thefabrication of preassembled features in materials other than metals,such as polymer and ceramics. An Nd:YAG laser operating in the fourthharmonic (266 nm wavelength) would be an example of a UV laser withsufficient power to perform this operation.

Fixture bridges can be eliminated either prior to, subsequent to, orsimultaneously with bonding of the plural laminae. In one embodiment ofthe invention, the fixture bridges are eliminated prior to the bondingof the plural laminae one to another.

The method of this invention can be used to fabricate freeformgeometries and microfeatures within a device. Microfeatures are of thesize of from about 1 μm to about 100 μm. The methods of the inventioncan be used to produce micro-scale and meso-scale devices. Micro-scaledevices are of the size of from about 1 μm to about 1 mm, preferablyfrom about 1 μm to about 500 μm, and even more preferably from about 1μm to about 100 μm. Meso-scale devices are of the size of from about 1mm to about 10 cm, preferably from about 1 mm to about 5 cm, and evenmore preferably from about 1 mm to about 1 cm. Arrays of preassembled,meso-scale devices can be fabricated with overall sizes of up to about12.5 centimeters by about 12.5 centimeters.

IV. Bonding Heterogeneous Stacks of Polymers

A. Novel Methods for Bonding Heterogeneous Stacks of Polymers

Filtration units, such as a portable kidney dialysis unit, are bulkmicrofluidic devices because of the relatively larger volumes of fluidthat are processed in microchannels over traditional “lab-on-a-chip”technology. Microchannel cross-sections can be produced to handle thesefluid flows using highly-parallel arrays of microchannels. FIG. 13provides an indication of the different uses for MECS and micrototalanalysis systems (μTAS).

B. Requirements for Membrane Integration

MECS devices may integrate various types of membranes within amicrolaminated stack. Examples include, without limitation: integratingPd membranes for hydrogen separation within microchannel fuel processingsystems; integrating contactor membranes in microchannel absorbers foruse in heat pumps; integrating separation membranes into microchanneldialyzers for portable kidney dialysis; integrating elastomericmembranes into highly-branched networks of microreactors for molecularmanufacturing (e.g. dendrimer synthesis); liquid-gas contactor usefulfor absorption of a gas, such as oxygen into a liquid, such as blood;separating CO₂ and/or H₂S from natural gas; water purification such asby separating organic materials, such as organic acids from water. Ineach of these examples, heterogeneous materials must be integrated intoa laminated stack.

A number of factors typically are considered to integrate membraneswithin embedded microchannel systems. For example, membrane materialsgenerally are quite expensive, and therefore it is desirable to minimizethe amount of membrane material used. This can be accomplished using asecond, less expensive packaging material that needs to be integratedwith the membrane material.

Also, membrane materials may have specific nano- or micro-morphologieswhich dictate the mass transfer of the membrane. These morphologiesoften are sensitive to heat, pressure and other processing conditions.Therefore, these materials cannot be conveniently patterned intogeometries compatible with microchannel designs. A mechanism thereforeis needed to incorporate the raw material form within the microlaminatedstack.

Many techniques used to bond together elements made from a singlematerial are less suitable for bonding together elements made fromdifferent materials. An example might be ultrasonic welding or thermalbonding of two polymers with significantly different glass transitiontemperatures where the structural form of one is compromised at atemperature lower than would be used for welding the second polymer.Also, solvent welding is complicated because different solvents areneeded for different materials. Finally, plasma oxidation producesexcellent welds between polydimethylsiloxane, polyethylene orpolystyrene, but cannot be used effectively for other combinations ofmaterials.

Membranes often have a thickness, or are made out of a material, thatresults in poor stiffness. Consequently, one non-trivial factor isproducing a microchannel array with interspersing membranes that do notresult in significant fin warpage and channel non-uniformities. Channelnon-uniformities can lead to flow maldistribution, which negativelyimpacts the effectiveness of heat exchangers and microreactors.

The low modulus of some membranes requires that the layers be thick (onthe order of one mm) in order to maintain dimensions. Therefore, inorder to reduce the fluid volume of the MECS device being developedwhile meeting its processing and operating requirements, it is desirableto integrate the elastomeric capabilities of certain materials, such asPDMS, with a stiff material.

While some membranes are excellent candidates as valve membranes orother purposes, they are not good for packaging. One issue withseparation membranes is that they are highly gas permeable, which cancause evaporation in microchannels leading to vapor-lock.

Another issue is that most membranes are not suitable as substrates forthin film deposition of heaters and thermocouples. Therefore, where suchdevices are required, new methods must be developed for theirincorporation into working devices.

C. Membrane Integration Techniques—PDMS Integration

One method for bonding PDMS to another surface involves plasma oxidationof the PDMS surface, followed by conformality to the faying surface.Plasma oxidation introduces silanol (Si—OH) groups on the surface ofPDMS. The condensation reaction of these groups with other appropriatefunctional groups [such as —OH, —COOH, carbonyls (—C=0), etc.] on thesurface of another material or PDMS forms a strong bond between the twosurfaces and immobilizes the grafted layer. This approach has severalproblems. First, the oxidized PDMS surface becomes inactive if notstabilized in aqueous solution within minutes after plasma oxidation.Second, it is compatible with only a handful of materials includingglass, silicon, silicon oxide, silicon nitride, polyethylene andpolystyrene. Silicon and glass surfaces are expensive relative topolymeric surfaces for long-term development. The only two polymers,polystyrene and polyethylene, which can be grafted to PDMS are notsuitable for thin film deposition. Ticona Topas (COC), Zeonor 1600 andGE HPS1/HPS2 are examples of structural polymers having excellentoptical clarity, high modulus, high glass transition temperature (>150°C.) and low gas permeability suitable for thin film deposition.Therefore, integration of PDMS with cheap, structural polymers would behighly desirable.

One specific approach for integrated PDMS membranes is to formulatecopolymers with protected functionality under atmospheric conditions,which will polymerize under selective exposure to UV light. A firstprocedure concerns hydride functional (Si—H) siloxanes that have beenincorporated into silanol elastomer formulations to produce foamedstructures. Based on this, a novel and plausible approach to impartbonding character on PDMS, without plasma oxidation, is to incorporate asmall amount (less than 1%) of silanol functional siloxane (orpolysilsesquioxane) into the vinyl-addition siloxane formulation andselectively cure the blend. Also, a methacrylate or acrylate functionalsiloxane copolymer (which cures on exposure to UV) can be incorporatedinto the vinyl-addition siloxane such that selective curing of the blendcan be used to bond surfaces. Oxygen inhibits the polymerization ofmethacrylate, but the methacrylate functionality can be protected in thepresence of oxygen and unprotected to obtain a reasonable cure whenblanketed with nitrogen or argon during UV exposure.

D. Physical Constraint

Another approach to membrane integration is to physically constrainmembrane layers between stiff layers of molded polymers (e.g. TiconaTopas COC, Zeonor 1600 and GE HPS1/HPS2). Because of the stiffness ofthese materials, each makes an excellent candidate for ultrasonicwelding. In addition, as thermoplastics, each has the ability to bethermally bonded (PDMS has a degradation temperature well above the Tgof these materials) and solvent welded.

Ultrasonic welding has enabled integration of the microinjection,microreaction, microseparation, detection and microextraction subsystemswithin a microreactor design for synthesizing dendrimer molecules. Onegoal of this architecture has been to minimize dead space within themicrosystem by using stiff polymer films in place of thick PDMSsubstrates used in previous work for homogeneous PDMS microsystemintegration. However, these same concepts of physical constraint can beextended to many different heterogenous microlaminated platforms.

E. Ultrasonic Welding

A current method involves sandwiching a PDMS valve membrane between twopolycarbonate layers using ultrasonic welding. In order to accomplishthis, angled channels are machined into a stainless steel substrateafter Ni electroforming and resist stripping. These produce raisedridges during embossing that act as energy directors for ultrasonicwelding.

The elastomer valve membrane layer can be produced by spin casting asuitable polymeric material or polymeric precursor, such as a PDMSmonomer, onto a wafer with raised photoresist features that produce thevalve chambers. The polymer is then cured. Openings for protrusion ofthe ultrasonic energy directors are then laser machined. It will beunderstood that this PDMS membrane layer could be replaced by anyoff-the-shelf membrane. FIG. 14A is a schematic, cross-sectional diagramof a microchannel array 1400 having a polycarbonate top plate 1402, anda polycarbonate bottom plate 1404 with enclosed microchannels 1406.Energy directors 1408 are provided either as separate units, or asdefined by plate 1404. Array 1400 also includes a valve layer, such as apolydimethylsiloxane layer 1410.

FIG. 14A illustrates the array 1400 prior to ultrasonically welding withthe energy directors 1408 protruding above the PDMS layer 1410. FIG. 14Bdiagrams the result of ultrasonic welding the array 1400 with the energydirectors 1408 melted down, bonding the top and bottom PC films 1402 and1404, compressing the PDMS layer 1410 and sealing the microchannels1406. With appropriate welding time and pressure the energy directorsform strong bonds and the PDMS compresses to create a conformal sealagainst the polycarbonate top and bottom as shown by FIG. 15.

F. Packaging Heterogeneous Stack of Polymeric Materials

Methods are needed to encapsulate a heterogeneous stack of materials,such as heterogeneous stacks of lamina made from various polymericmaterials. Two alternative embodiments are disclosed for enclosing theheterogeneous stack of laminae. First, with the use of ultrasonicwelding, thermal bonding and solvent welding to physically constrain themembrane across the membrane, the bonding technique can completelyencapsulate the membrane after bonding with the packaging material.Second, if the bonding process is unable to fully encapsulate themembrane materials, a dip, spray, injection, cast or other applicationof a packaging material can be used to ultimately encapsulate thedevice. Care is taken with regard to fluidic, electrical or other typesof interconnect.

G. Membrane Tension

Flow maldistribution in microchannels can be a significant problemassociated with microfluidic devices. Certain embodiments of the presentinvention include a membrane between two adjacent laminae. The membranepreferably does not deflect substantially into the microchannel andhence create either channel blockage or flow maldistributions within thechannel. Thus, processes have been devised to maintain the membraneslightly under tension, such as by stretching it, and thereafteraffixing it in place relative to adjacent laminae.

A first method for maintaining a membrane under slight tension duringprocessing is to mechanically constrain the membrane under tension. Forexample, a membrane may be patterned to include throughcuts forreceiving protrusions on a first lamina. The distance between the twoprotrusions is slightly greater than the distance between throughcuts inthe membrane. Registering the membrane with the adjacent lamina(e) sothat the protrusions are inserted into the membrane throughcuts placesthe membrane in tension prior to or simultaneously with fixing in placethe laminae and membrane, such as by welding the architecture, to formthe final device.

There are alternative methods for maintaining the membrane in tension.For example, a first positive feature might be patterned into a firstlamina to be positioned adjacent the membrane. The positive feature issized and shaped to be received in a receiving slot, i.e., a negativefeature, in a second lamina positioned adjacent the membrane. Thepositive and negative features on the adjacent non-membrane laminaepreferably provide substantially equal force to the membrane as theymate. This can be achieved, for example, by using an O-ring orparallel-line type configuration. A positive circular or line feature ispatterned in a first lamina and a negative, mating circular pattern orchannel is machined in a second lamina. By coupling together the firstlamina and second lamina so that the positive and negative featuresmate, the membrane is both (1) placed under sufficient tension tominimize or substantially eliminate membrane deflections into themicrochannel, and (2) fixed in position relative to the adjacentlaminae. The tension applied is just that amount of tension thatfacilitates minimizing or preventing membrane deflection into adjacentmicrochannel. This tension may vary, but likely ranges from a minimumtension force that is just greater than the material tension in a layerwithout application of a tension force to a maximum force that is belowthat which would result in material failure.

In a commercial production process, the membrane may be providedreel-to-reel, and hence the membrane material likely is in limitedtension. Thereafter the membrane is positioned relative to adjacentlaminae in a continuous or semi-continuous process. Alternatively, themembrane may be provided as a sheet. Whatever the method of deployingthe membrane, it is likely that plural membranes for plural devices willbe defined by a single sheet of polymer. Adjacently positioned packaginglaminae also likely will define plural different components. The stacksmay be de-paneled, whereby excess material in a membrane layer orpackaging laminae is removed, and/or an original number of individualparts as defined by a single sheet, portion of a sheet and/or laminae,is reduced to a smaller number by cutting. Eventually, the device mustbe singulated from the remaining parts, which also can be done by lasercutting.

A second method for maintaining a membrane under tension comprisesplacing the membrane in a frame designed to place the membrane undertension. The frame construction can be patterned after the O-ring orparallel line type constructions exemplified above with respect toadjacent laminae. By mating the first and second frame parts, themembrane material placed between them is placed under tension. Thestretched membrane is then positioned relative to other laminae todefine the final architecture of the desired device. The membranematerial then may be fixed in placed prior to joining laminae, such asby laser spot welding or solvent spot welding, followed by joininglaminae together, such as by welding, to form the final device. It alsomay be possible to weld the entire device, such as by microwave welding,so that all laminae are fixed in their positions simultaneously.Microwave welding is described in copending provisional application No.60/715,466, which is incorporated herein by reference.

V. Incorporating other Devices into an Operational System

Embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed with referenceto filtration and purification methods, and devices therefore, with oneparticular embodiment comprising a dialysis unit. This unit can becoupled with other operating devices to provide a system useful for avariety of applications. For example, the system can include amicrochemical microfactory for manufacturing useful biologicalmolecules. The system also can include, again solely by way of example,micromixers for mixing fluids that need to be combined, or recombined,such as with the blood cell and ultrafiltered fluid streams that resultfrom using the dialysis unit embodiments disclosed herein.

A. Material Synthesis

Microreactor-based dendrimer production within fractal nanofactories (or“nanofractories”) is disclosed herein, which allows the ability tocontrol hundreds of parallel reactions necessary to economically producedendrimers for societal impact. Dendrimers are highly-branched,nanometer-sized molecules with fascinatingly symmetrical fractalmorphologies. See FIG. 16. The word dendrimer (coined by Tomalia et al.)is derived from the Greek words dendri (branch, tree-like) and meros(part of). Dendrimers consist of a core-unit, branching units, and endgroups located on their peripheries. Their dendritic architecturepresents great potential for a wide variety of applications. Dendrimershold great promise as building blocks for complex supramolecularstructures and as nanoscale carrier molecules in drug delivery, wherenanoparticles and nanocapsules are gaining popularity. The molecules canbe assembled with startling precision, a necessity when the goal isconstruction of nanoscale structures or devices with sophisticated andcomplex functionality. Along with targeting tumor cells and drugdelivery systems, dendrimers have shown promising results as tools forMRI imaging and gene transfer techniques. Also, dendrimer-basednanocomposites are being studied as possible antimicrobial agents tofight Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichiacoli. The structural variety of dendrimers, yielding molecules havingdiffering optical, electrical, and chemical properties, makes thempotentially even more attractive in these applications.

Dendrimers have been shown to act as scavengers of metal ions, offeringthe potential for use in fluid purification, such as water purification,and environmental clean-up applications. Their size allows them to befiltered out post-extraction using common ultrafiltration techniques.

A critical barrier to the routine use of dendrimers is the tedious,expensive means of their synthesis. This synthesis consists of twoconstantly repeating reaction steps involving: 1) coupling a centralunit to two branching units; and 2) activating the branches so they canreact further. Two general approaches (divergent and convergent) todendrimer synthesis exist. Divergent synthesis starts from a seed andprogresses towards the periphery of the dendrimer, while convergentsynthesis proceeds from the periphery to a core.

B. Divergent Synthesis

The divergent approach, arising from the seminal work of Tomalia andNewkome, initiates growth at the core of the dendrimer and continuesoutward by the repetition of coupling and activation steps. In divergentsynthesis, several hundred steps may be required to obtain five or sixdendrimer generations (sizes of interest). In this case the yield foreach step multiplies through to determine the total yield. For example,in the synthesis of a fifth generation poly (propylene imine) dendrimer(64 imine groups; 248 reactions), a yield of 99% per reaction willresult in only 0.99²⁴⁸=8.27% of defect-free dendrimer. The similar sizesof defective and defect-free dendrimers then make separation difficultfurther complicating matters. Exponential growth in the number ofreactions to be performed to produce higher generations makes divergentsynthesis an unlikely method for the production of uniform dendrimersbeyond generation five or six unless the yield at each step exceeds99.8%. In addition, extremely excessive amounts of reagents are requiredin latter stages of growth to reduce side reactions and force reactionsto completion. This not only increases the cost but also causesdifficulties in purification.

C. Convergent Synthesis

Convergent synthesis, first reported by Hawker and Fréchet in 1989,initiates growth from the exterior of the molecule, and progressesinward by coupling end groups to each branch of the monomer. The singlefunctional group at the focal point of the wedge-shaped dendriticfragment can be activated after the coupling step. Coupling theactivated dendrons to a monomer creates a higher generation dendron.Finally, the globular multi-dendron dendrimer is generated by attachingthe dendrons to a polyfunctional core. Here, a small and constant numberof reaction sites are maintained in each reaction step. Consequently,only a small number of side products are possible in each step. As aresult, the reactions can be driven to completion with only a slightexcess of reagent and defective product can be eliminated prior tosubsequent reaction. Thus, convergent synthesis has the potential toproduce purer dendrons and dendrimers than divergent synthesis.Furthermore, the ability to precisely place functional groups throughoutthe structure, to selectively modify the focal point, and to preparewell-defined asymmetric dendrimers make the convergent approachattractive. However, since the coupling reaction occurs only at thesingle focal point of the growing dendron, the preparation of highergeneration dendrons and dendrimers (typically above the sixthgeneration) is sterically hindered, resulting in decreased yields. Thisis especially evident in the reaction between high generation dendronsand the core. This drawback has limited the commercialization ofdendrimers produced by convergent synthesis. Our nanofractory approachto convergent synthesis will address this drawback.

D. Synthesis using Microsystems

Chemical synthesis, such as dendrimer synthesis (and nanoproduction ingeneral), can be facilitated through the improved process control madeavailable by highly-paralleled, process-intensified microsystems.Microreaction technology transforms current batch nanoproductionpractices into a continuous process with rapid, uniform mixing andprecise temperature control. Dendritic macromolecules can be manipulatedusing micro- and nanofluidic mixers. Microseparations andmicroextraction technology minimize reagent requirements and defectiveproduct to further improve yields in downstream reactions. In addition,microsystems provide the advantage of eliminating air contact, therebyminimizing contamination and improving yield. Furthermore, microsystemstechnology minimize environmental impact of nanoproduction using solventfree mixing, integrated separation techniques and reagent recycling.Finally, the possibility of synthesizing nanomaterials in the requiredvolumes at the point of use, eliminates the need to store and transportpotentially hazardous materials.

Dendrimer production can be implemented within a fractal nanofactory, or“nanofractory”. The nanofractory spatially intensifies and automatesdendrimer production providing strict control over dendrimer synthesis.This process control enables the production of higher generationdendrimers to produce novel materials at higher yields and lower costs.Specific unit operations are integrated into the fractories including byway of example and without limitation, micro-scale mixers, separators,heaters and valves. Implementation of a nanofractory within a polymersheet architecture provides the added advantages of an economicalpathway to “numbering up” through microlamination.

E. Micromixer

In spite of the low purity achievable via divergent synthesis of highergeneration dendrimers, this approach is more amenable to scale-up thanthe convergent approach. Polyamidoamine (PAMAM) is probably the moststudied dendrimer today. In 1985 and 1986, Tomalia et al. described thepreparation of PAMAMs by the divergent approach. The synthesis involvesin situ branch cell construction in step-wise, iterative stages around adesired core (e.g. ammonia or ethylenediamine) to produce definedcore-shell structures. Each generation was synthesized through areiterative two-step reaction sequences involving (1) exhaustivealkylation of primary amines (Michael-type addition) with methylacrylate and (2) amidation of amplified ester groups with a large excessof ethylenediamine to produce primary amine terminal groups. The firstreaction sequence on the exposed dendron creates G=0. Iteration of thealkylation/amidation sequence produces an amplification of terminalgroups from 1 to 2 with in situ creation of a branch cell at theanchoring site of the dendron that constitutes G=1. Conventionally, inorder to achieve a high degree of product purity, the potentialsynthetic problems associated with amine additions to esters, includinglactam formation, retro-Michael reactions, incomplete addition, andintermolecular coupling, were minimized using excess diamine,maintaining moderate reaction temperatures, and avoiding aqueoussolvents. A recent ESI-MS (Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry)study on PAMAM at the 4^(th) generation indicated that the sample underanalysis possessed purity no more than 8%.

Microreaction technology offers several new opportunities to suppresscompeting side reactions and maximize product purity. These includeuniform and precise temperature control and low moisture permeability toavoid water content. Most importantly, the key is to increase theconversion rate of the alkylation/amidation reaction sequence throughenhancement of effective collision between reactants. Thus, it isbeneficial to create a microfluid (mixing of reactants at the molecularlevel) rather than a macrofluid (aggregates of separate reactants).

Mixing typically involves integration of one or more fluids into onephase and molecular diffusion is usually the final step in all mixingprocesses. A simple estimation shows that it will take five seconds tomix two contacting 100 μm thick aqueous laminar layers containing smallmolecules and would only take 50 milliseconds if the layers were 10 μm.The essence of mixing thus relies on the concept of volume division. Onecommon approach to achieve volume division is creating a turbulent flow.It is difficult to achieve uniform mixing at the micrometer scale in ashort time by traditional mixing apparatus, such as paddles orpropellers in a reaction tank. Micromixers offer features which cannotbe easily achieved by macroscopic devices, such as ultrafast mixing onmicroscale. For example, Bokenkamp et al. fabricated a micromixer as aquench-flow reactor to study fast reactions (millisecond timeresolution).

Alkylation and amidation reactions for dendrimer synthesis will beperformed using different micromixers, such as an interdigitalmicromixer. A schematic perspective diagram of one embodiment of aninterdigital micromixer 1700 is shown in FIG. 17. Fluids A and B to bemixed are introduced into the mixing element 1702 as two counter-flows1704, 1706. Flows 1704 and 1706 enter interdigital channels (˜20 to 50μm) 1708, and split into many interpenetrated substreams 1710. Thesubstreams 1710 leave the interdigital channels 1708 perpendicular tothe direction of the feed flows, initially with a multilayeredstructure. Fast mixing through diffusion soon follows due to the smallthickness of the individual layer. Silicon-based interdigital typemixers described in the technical literature can be made using apolymeric microlamination architecture using replica molding/polymerembossing and various bonding strategies. Spacing between digits on theorder of 20 μm can be achieved, which provides mixing times on the orderof a few hundred milliseconds depending upon flow rates. This has beentested by generating cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticle solution using aPDMS interdigital micromixer. Stable monodispersed CdS nanoparticlesuspensions were produced even without adding stabilizers.

Micromixers can be engineered to control the orientation of highergeneration dendrons upon mixing. Two types of micromixers areparticularly promising. One is based on the collision of two high-energysubstreams and the other is based on the injection of multiple microjets(or nanojets) into a mixing chamber. Membranes with straight-throughpores down to 5 μm have been laser micromachined in 75 μm thick KaptonKJ and micromolded in 40 μm thick PDMS. Even at 100 μm spacing betweenpores at a mass flux of 0.5 g/min/cm², pressure drop across the membranehas been measured to be only a few ton.

FIG. 19 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary analytical micromixer1900 with a NSOM (Near-field optical microscopy) ear optical fiber probe1902. Micromixer 1900 provides for flow 1904 and 1906 to pluralmicrojets 1908. A resulting mixture stream 1910 flows from the microjets1908. Other analytical micromixers based on different mixing principleswill also be built and studied.

Location-specific production and immobilization of dendrimer-templatedsorbents in-situ will be used in microfluidic devices for separations.This same method can be used to build nanopreparative separators inspecific locations in the nanofractory. This recursive design willemploy the dendrimer as a template in porous polymer sorbent synthesis.This new technology for the preparation of porous monolithic sorbentswill provide enhanced control over surface chemistry and porosity, andenhance separations.

PDMS microchips provide useful surface chemistry for ligand attachmentif first exposed to an oxygen plasma. Such exposure introduces silanolgroups that are useful to bond adjacent device components and to attachpolymers and other ligands to the surface in the flow conduit. In theformer role the silanols condense with complementary functional groupson other surfaces (such as quartz, glass, other PDMS components, etc.)to yield a stable, leak-free seal. In the latter role the activationchemistries described above are available for use in couplingprimary-amine-containing ligands. In the event that an insufficientsurface coverage of silanols exist for effective immobilization ofsorbents, SiO₂ doped PDMS matrices and matrices incorporating both PDMSand —NH₂ or —OH terminated PDMS may be employed. Several otherreasonable approaches to surface activation and ligand immobilizationexist.

F. Integrating Microscale Separations Devices into the Nanofractory

Although others have demonstrated integrated systems foranalysis—systems incorporating multiple mixing, separations, injection,and detection steps—no example apparently is yet known in the literaturefor a highly integrated manufacturing microdevice. Such a device likelywould include reagent delivery, mixing, heating, reaction, purification,isolation, and transport elements into a single device. Further, theseoperations may need to be iterated multiple times to yield a complexproduct. The separative components described herein, capable ofextractions and chromatography, shall be integrated into thenanofractory architecture.

Prior efforts have shown the ability to integrate injection systems withmultiple separators, mixers and separators or reactors and separators ona single chip. Also, efforts have been made to integrate cell lysis, PCRamplification, separation and detection on one chip for DNA analysis.These integrations were all performed on a single glass chip using acruciform channel design. Surface area to volume (SAV) ratios for thesedesigns were on the order of 0.005 mm²/mm³.

VI. Fractal Microchannels

The large, fractal sequence of reactions necessary for convergentdendrimer production lends itself to the implementation of a fractalnanofactory, or “nanofractory” illustrated by FIGS. 20 and 21.

The nanofractory actually mimics the geometry of the dendritic moleculeit produces. Fractal microchannels have been proposed in heat transferapplications to lower pumping powers and improve thermal distribution onheat transfer surfaces. These benefits derive mainly from theminimization of microchannel flow path lengths and the continualdisruption of hydrodynamic and thermal boundary layers caused by theregular bifurcation of the flow. The space efficiency of fractalnetworks is used to improve the channel and unit operation packingdensity, thereby making the nanofractory compact. Chamber dimensions forthe disclosed embodiment will be on the order of 50 to 100 μm dictatedlargely by mixing times, flow rates, residence times, etc.

An alternate approach to nanofractory development is shown in FIG. 21.This modular approach could be used for both divergent and convergentsynthesis. Microarrays 2100 may include plural layers 2102. The array2100 of FIG. 21B includes thin film heaters 2104 adjacent a microchanneland a mixing array 2106 to support material synthesis. Thin films 2104are evaporated onto substrates and integrated into microchannels usingvarious bonding methods.

Modular microchannel packages will be developed using a Si bulkmicromachining/anodic bonding architecture or soft lithographytechniques. FIG. 27 of the priority provisional application illustratesa single cruciform set of channels made by soft lithography with across-section nominally 40 μm square that was used for dendrimertemplating of a chromatographic channel. Further, PDMS substrates may beused as mandrels for replica molding polyurethane (cross-linked) orvacuum casting polyethylene (thermoplastic) devices in modest volumes. Areplicated substrate with nominally 100 μm bifurcated flow paths from achemically-etched 304 stainless steel substrate also has been made. Thereplica is low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and was reproduced to adimensional accuracy of 5%.

Strategies for reagent injection and extraction will be based onmechanical valves developed by Thorsen, et al., which have beenimplemented in high densities (i.e. more than 3500 valves in 625 mm²) inPDMS architectures. Based on this, it is expected that mechanicalinjection and extraction will be more space efficient than otherchemical means of injection (via electrokinetic pumping) or extraction(via liquid-liquid extraction), which may require channel lengths on theorder of tens of mm. Second, while the level of valve integrationreported in the literature is currently impressive, thesurface-area-to-volume (SAV) ratio for these devices is still onlyaround 0.1 mm²/mm³ due to the poor modulus of the packaging material(PDMS) requiring even single layer chips to be several mm thick. Thisratio could be significantly improved by packaging these systems withstiffer polymers. Furthermore, packaging of these systems in polymerswith lower gas permeabilities will help to eliminate the problems ofbubble formation within the channels.

FIG. 22 illustrates how mechanical valves like those developed byThorsen, et al., will be used in dendron extraction. The array 2200includes fast acting and leak tight valves 2202 having a low pressuredrop and small footprint. Thorsen, et al., demonstrated the large-scaleintegration (LSI) of pneumatically-actuated microvalves usingmulti-layer soft lithography techniques. The pneumatic and hydraulicvalves in the LSI concept by Thorsen, et al., are driven by benchtopcompressors and pumps, which require bulky pneumatic and hydrauliccontrol channels. Pneumatic actuation of the valves could result in gascontamination of the reaction stream due to the gas permeability of thePDMS. In addition, the distribution system for pneumatic actuation isbulky and not desirable within high component density applications suchas the nanofractory. Electrically-actuated microvalves capable of beingintegrated within a nanofractory architecture can be made by combining athin film heater with a material having a large thermal expansion.Paraffin waxes possess a very large thermal expansion (10-35%) with thepotential to deliver very large pressures (500 Mpa) and have beendemonstrated in surface micromachined and polymer embossingarchitectures. Other electrical actuation possibilities includeelectrostrictive polymers which would actuate when placed between twostatic electrodes. In this way, thin film electrical traces will be usedto replace the pneumatic or hydraulic control networks in Thorsen'swork. PDMS is known to be highly gas permeable, which results in theevaporation of liquids and the formation of bubbles in microchannels.Bubbles on the order of 1 mm in diameter have been observed to formwithin 24 hours, which, in 100-micron channels, causes vapor-lock andhinders reactions. This may be handled by using conformal sealing, whichwill make the removal of air bubbles possible. Additional efforts willbe needed to package PDMS valves within stiff, low gas permeablepolymers.

Using the methods described herein, monolithic sorbent materials havebeen produced in PDMS microchannels with sufficient anchoring to yield auseful device for separations. Channel cross-sections are shown in FIG.23A-B.

The porosity of the polymeric stationary phase in monolithic columns isusually dictated by the nature and amount of the porogenic solventemployed. Aside from affecting porosity, adjustments of the amount andnature of the porogenic solvent(s), alter other properties such as thesurface area, nature and swelling properties of the resulting monoliths.Recently, Chirica and Remcho described a new synthetic method forpreparing monoliths with porosity dictated by the size of sphericalsilica particle templates. In addition to tailoring the pore size, thismethod offers the ability to influence the surface characteristics ofthe finished polymer by employing silica beads with specific surfacechemistry.

Dendrimers also can be used to generate uniform pore structures.Polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers represent one class of usefulmacromolecules. The macromolecules are incorporated into a solution offunctionalized monomers, cross-linker, solvent, and polymerizationinitiator. Thermal or photo-initiation of polymerization, which can belocalized in a microscale device by (1) localized heating with anin-situ micro heater, or (2) by use of a photomask and exposure to a UVsource, results in polymer production. This is followed by the removalof solvent and dendrimers, which yields a continuous rod of polymer withuniform porosity and dendrimer-influenced surface character.

In one embodiment of this method, azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN, 1 wt %with respect to the monomers) was dissolved in a monomer mixtureconsisting of 40% ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (EDMA), 59.7%butylmethacrylate (BMA) and 0.3% 2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid(AMPS). A porogenic solvent, methanol, was slowly admixed with themonomers in a 2:3 (v/v) ratio with the goal of producing interconnectingmicropores in the monolith. One ml aliquots of this mixture were addedto several vials containing specific amounts of Starburst (PAMAM)dendrimer. The dendrimer, commercially available as a 10% solution inmethanol, was used after the removal of methanol by vacuum distillation.After addition of the monomer solution, the homogeneous mixtures werepurged with nitrogen for 10 minutes. A fused silica capillary was filledwith the polymerization mixture using a 100 ml syringe. Both ends of thecapillary were sealed with rubber septa, and the column was submerged ina 60° C. bath for 20 hours. Using a syringe pump, the resulting monolithwas washed with the mobile phase to flush out the residual reagents,dendrimers and methanol. An SEM image (cross-section) of the resultingpolymer is shown in FIG. 24A-C.

Liquid-Gas Contactor

Microchannels operatively associated with membranes can be used for avariety of applications. Another example concerns a liquid-gas contactorthat can be used to facilitate gas absorption in the liquid. FIG. 25illustrates one embodiment of liquid-gas contactor membrane 2500 thatcan be used to flow a liquid adjacent one surface of the membrane in amicrochannel, and a gas adjacent a second surface of the membrane inanother microchannel. The liquid/gas contactor membrane 2500 illustratedin FIG. 25 has a thickness of several hundred microns. This providesribbing for stiffening the membrane, which will be positioned betweengas and liquid flowing microchannels. Thin webbing in the bottom, on theorder of 5-10 microns thick, is provided in the membrane 2500. A laseris used to ablate small apertures (1-2 micron diameter) 2502 in thewebbing. Apertures 2502 having a diameter of about 50 microns and aseparation distance of about 150 microns are illustrated in FIG. 25.This allows gas/liquid contact without breakthrough of the liquid intothe gas. Because of the contact, gas, such as oxygen, can be absorbedinto the liquid.

Contactor Membranes in Absorption/Desorption Cycle Micro-Scale HeatPumps

Another potential application of microchannels operatively associatedwith membranes is a contactor membrane for use in a micro-scale heatpump using absorption/desorption cycles. One embodiment of a heat pumpis illustrated in FIG. 32 of the priority provisional application. FIG.26 provides a schematic drawing illustrating the basic components of aheat exchanging system 2600. The illustrated heat exchanging system 2600includes heat exchanger 2602, a desorber 2604, an adsorber 2606, acondenser 2608 and an evaporator 2610. Contactors useful for heatexchanger applications have a number of desirable physicalcharacteristics, including having a sufficient stiffness for theapplication, a thickness of from about 50 to about 150 microns, a poresize of from about 1 to about 10 microns, a high break through pressure,which is the pressure at which solution will pass through the contactor,a high permeability (mass flux/pressure drop), and a low pressure drop(the minimum refrigerant vapor pressure for driving theabsorption/desorption process).

Suitable contactor membranes can be made by laser micromachining. Themethod involved first selecting a suitable material, examples of whichinclude polyimide and polycarbonate. A membrane was made from suchmaterials by laser micromachining using a 266 nm Nd:YAG laser.Contactors also can be made by micromolding the membrane. This involvedusing a photoresist, such as SU8 2050, a photomask having appropriatepore sizes, such as a chrome on glass photomask having 5 micron pores, asubstrate, such as a silicon wafer substrate, and polymeric materials,such as PDMS, PEG, etc. FIG. 27 schematically illustrates the method formaking the contactor by micromolding techniques.

FIGS. 28 and 29 illustrate the results obtained by micromoldingcontactors. Laser micromachined and micromolded membranes withstraight-through pores have been fabricated according to the methodsdescribed herein. The morphologies of a engineered straight-throughmembrane have better permeability then conventional membranes. Theengineered membranes show at least 10 times more mass flux thenconventional membranes in a normalized permeability plot.

The present invention has been disclosed with reference to particularembodiments that exemplify the scope of the invention. A person ofordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the scope of theinvention can vary from that disclosed herein with reference to theseparticular embodiments.

1. A dialyzer, comprising: a semipermeable dialyzer membrane; amicrochannel fluidic device fluidly associated with the membrane toprovide a blood flow adjacent to and on one side of the membrane througha first plurality of microchannels having a first end, a second end andplural parallel channels extending between the first and second ends,and a dialysate flow adjacent to and on a second side of the membranethrough a second plurality of microchannels arranged in a counterflowmanner with the first plurality of microchannels, the second pluralityof microchannels having a first end, a second end and plural parallelchannels extending between the first and second ends, wherein the firstend of the second plurality of microchannels corresponds to the secondend of the first plurality of microchannels; a microscale heat exchangeroperatively associated with the microchannels; a first fluid inletfluidly coupled to the first plurality of microchannels for deliveringblood to the first plurality of microchannels; a second fluid inletfluidly coupled to the second plurality of microchannels for deliveringdialysate to the second plurality of microchannels; a first plurality ofposts uniformly distributed across the first end of the first pluralityof microchannels defining a header located adjacent the microchannelsfor distributing fluid to the first plurality of microchannels todistribute blood flow substantially equally among the first plurality ofmicrochannels; and a second plurality of posts uniformly distributedacross the first end of the second plurality of microchannels defining aheader located adjacent the microchannels for distributing dialysateflow substantially equally among the second plurality of microchannels.2. A dialysis method, comprising: flowing blood from a patient requiringdialysis to a dialyzer comprising (a) a semipermeable dialyzer membrane,(b) a microchannel fluidic device fluidly associated with the membraneto provide a blood flow adjacent to and on one side of the membranethrough a first plurality of microchannels having a first end, a secondend and plural parallel channels extending between the first and secondends, and a dialysate flow adjacent to and on a second side of themembrane through a second plurality of microchannels, the secondplurality of microchannels having a first end, a second end and pluralparallel channels extending between the first and second ends, (c) afirst fluid inlet fluidly coupled to the first plurality ofmicrochannels for delivering blood to the first plurality ofmicrochannels, (d) a second fluid inlet fluidly coupled to the secondplurality of microchannels for delivering dialysate to the secondplurality of microchannels, (e) a first plurality of posts that define aheader located adjacent the microchannels for distributing blood flowsubstantially equally among the first plurality of microchannels, (f) asecond plurality of posts that define a header located adjacent themicrochannels for distributing dialysate flow substantially equallyamong the second plurality of microchannels, and (g) a heat exchangeroperatively associated with the microchannels; and flowing dialysate tothe second single-fluid inlet.